Ed, I was so glad I came upon your thread. I was thinking about building a Mud Duck like the one I had back in the 90s. I knew Tom back then and did his first build and fly video for him.
He gave me a kit as payment. I built it and flew it for years with an OS 90 in it.
But now that I see the way you are building using the same kind of foam but a different method, I'm all excited about building a noob.
Going out tomorrow and get the board. I've looked at all your vids and think you did a fantastic job of explaining how it all works.
My hats off to you.
Nice job.
Thanks,
Gordosoar.

here is my first DTF. It is a pretty close copy of the old Sturdy Birdy. I made this for my son. AUW weight is 2 lbs with a 2200 and a Exceed 480. Flys awsome and under 15.00... Was wondering where everyone is finding the colored packing tape all I can find is clear...

That's what I'm taking about! Hacking is highly encouraged. Do you have some planes built this way?

Ed,
I do but they were built with "glued box" construction before I discovered your videos. Your "folded tube" construction has some real advantages and I plan to build something with it after I get some $tree baseball-bat fuse variants out of my system...

here is my first DTF. It is a pretty close copy of the old Sturdy Birdy. I made this for my son. AUW weight is 2 lbs with a 2200 and a Exceed 480. Flys awsome and under 15.00... Was wondering where everyone is finding the colored packing tape all I can find is clear...Attachment 4781969

Went to DT today and the had 1 case in stock, bought the case 48 pcs.
I figure once the guys at the field see what I'm flying they will want some board and I wanted to make sure I had a good supply on hand.
Now I'm just waiting for the colored tape to come in that I ordered from tape brothers.

Ed, have you ever tried a triangle fues? Seem like it would be inherently stronger.
Also, what size props are you using with the 250 size motor ?
I'm really new to electric so I have to ask.
Thanks.

Good to hear, hope it's a hit with your flying posse. Can't beat the price and creativity factor.

I made one triangle fuse just to check it out and I found the inside space utilization to be not exactly what I needed for the design at hand, due to the triangular cross section. But I think it's a fine idea for rigidity and style. I've never been disappointed with the strength of a square fuselage, but I can't argue with the reality of geometry that a triangle is in fact stiffer. There are some guys in my YouTube crew who use triangles more: wbw40 and mrwest1960. Have a look at their creations for more ideas.

I'm actually naive to the "250 size" and that nomenclature for motors. I usually think of it in can size, kV, and overall grams of the motor for a rough benchmark, and watts for more precise comparisons. I can offer that I use 8x3.8 props a lot on 2826-10 1400kV 50g motors that are my workhorse powerplants for medium sized foamies. I used two of them with 8x4.5 props for my twin cargo dropper RC-69. For the same motor but in 2200kV I use 6x4, which is kind of the "industry standard" parkjet combo.

Ed,
I do but they were built with "glued box" construction before I discovered your videos. Your "folded tube" construction has some real advantages and I plan to build something with it after I get some $tree baseball-bat fuse variants out of my system...

This is awesome and very creative! How did you get that multiple-entendre with the hot chick, in a swing, baseball bat, etc.? Hard to argue with a $1 off the shelf tapered fuselage. Have fun with the foamboard too and I'll look out for your creations.

Good to hear, hope it's a hit with your flying posse. Can't beat the price and creativity factor.

I made one triangle fuse just to check it out and I found the inside space utilization to be not exactly what I needed for the design at hand, due to the triangular cross section. But I think it's a fine idea for rigidity and style. I've never been disappointed with the strength of a square fuselage, but I can't argue with the reality of geometry that a triangle is in fact stiffer. There are some guys in my YouTube crew who use triangles more: wbw40 and mrwest1960. Have a look at their creations for more ideas.

I'm actually naive to the "250 size" and that nomenclature for motors. I usually think of it in can size, kV, and overall grams of the motor for a rough benchmark, and watts for more precise comparisons. I can offer that I use 8x3.8 props a lot on 2826-10 1400kV 50g motors that are my workhorse powerplants for medium sized foamies. I used two of them with 8x4.5 props for my twin cargo dropper RC-69. For the same motor but in 2200kV I use 6x4, which is kind of the "industry standard" parkjet combo.

Hope that's help. Let me know if I didn't hit the right answer.

Ed

Hi Ed,
Sorry for the confusion, I'm so new to this E stuff that I know just enough to be dangerous. When I said 250 I ment 250 watts of power.
When I look at a motor, I look for 100 watts of power per pound of plane.
That the way it was explained to me to keep it simple.
I'm all about simple.
I ordered an emax 240 watt last night but I have another one on the shelf, so I'm starting on a plane as soon as I get my taxes out of the way. Thank god for Turbotax.
I'm still not sure about all the Kv stuff but I'm reading up on it.
If you don't mind I'll keep posting what I'm up to and some pics when I get to that point.
Oh, have you ever tried making ribs for the inside of the wing to shape the air foil instead of the stack of planks?
We did that in the Mud Duck wing but that was compleatly open under cambered. Later Tom covered the bottom also, but only half way back.
Later,
G.